Healthier Hashbrowns At Your Fingertips

Do you love hashbrowns? I do! I do! I do!
If only they were available for 24 hours and if only they don’t cost as much as they do, I would probably be munching on hashbrowns every blessed day.

A not so-close second to my top favorite potato list are french fries.I can eat them even if I am already full. I think the combination of salt and starch makes me crave them even if I know that fries aren’t the healthiest food in the world.

Good news to potato lovers like me. I just discovered a healthier version of hashbrowns. I am sooo getting a Noble Prize for this. You get the crispy-creamy combination but only using a tablespoon of butter instead of several cups of oil. My heart hearts me so! Whereas hashbrowns cost 25 pesos in fast food chains, I only spent 35 pesosesoses (cost of half a kilo of potato as of today), for 10 hashbrowns. But wait there is more. Lastly, no need to beat the 10AM cut-off for breakfast meals, because you can make hashbrowns anytime at the comfort of your own kitchen. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please sit down.

Oh wait, this standing ovation that I am picturing in my head is making me feel guilty. To be 100% honest, the original idea is not actually mine. A reader of Cook’s Illustrated shared in the Quick Tips section of the magazine that she knows someone who makes hashbrown using a secret kitchen appliance, the waffle maker. Yup! I looked for recipes online but the ones that I found were too complicated. I don’t have time to dry my grated potatoes nor am I willing to go out to buy several seasonings.

Without further ado….. here is my waffle hashbrown recipe…

Whachaneed:

Potatoes, peeled, then boiled, then pat dried, then grated using the biggest holes of your grater
Butter
Pepper
Believe it or not, that is it!

Turn on your waffle maker.

Mix all three ingredients in a bowl. For 3 large potatoes, I used a tablespoon of butter. Freshly cracked pepper is a must have. It was only recently that I discovered that using freshly cracked pepper rather than the more commercially available powder version makes a world of difference in flavor.
Now, place 3 spoonfuls of your potato mixture in the middle of your waffle maker. Press a bit. I wanted my hashbrowns to be the same size as their fastfood evil stepbrothers so I can make a better cost comparison. If you want to make a bigger hashbrown waffle, go ahead.

Leave your waffle maker alone for 15 minutes. Take a quick shower or watch an episode of Friends. In a few minutes, you will be in potato heaven.

Eat slowly. Close your eyes as you savor each healthy starchy bite.

The only downside is that you are limited by the number of waffle makers that you have. When deep frying, you can fry as many as your pot can accommodate. But since you are going to save a lot in potatoes, frying oil and not to mention the cost of a very possible angioplasty, why not just buy yourself 2 more waffle makers?

oh shoot!! this is great!! Liam loves hashbrowns din.. pero di nga healthy, so I usually do it ung pan fried on a non stick pan.. but it’s not crunchy..😦 now I have reason to buy a waffle maker na! haha… thanks for the tip!!🙂